


It Takes a Village

by BookedbyFandoms, delicatelyglitterywriter



Series: The Fluffverse: Peggy and Bucky Fitzsimmons [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Autistic Character, Childhood, Fitzsimmons Fluffverse, Fluff, Fluffverse, Multi, Nonbinary Character, fsfv
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2018-08-31 12:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8577799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookedbyFandoms/pseuds/BookedbyFandoms, https://archiveofourown.org/users/delicatelyglitterywriter/pseuds/delicatelyglitterywriter
Summary: Glimpses into the childhoods of Peggy and Bucky Fitzsimmons, and the challenges that face Jemma and Fitz as parents. In particular, the daily adventures their adopted family bring (aka: CAN SHIELD PLEASE LEAVE THEM ALONE TO RAISE THEIR CHILDREN IN PEACE??).One-shots will not be in chronological order. Peggy and Bucky's ages will be posted at the start of each chapter





	1. Groceries

**Author's Note:**

> Peggy is six, Bucky is four.

“Daisy! That is enough!”

Jemma sighed and turned her head further away from the sound of her shouting husband and her squealing children. She instead focused on doing what she came to do: buy her groceries.

She often wondered how Daisy ever became a SHIELD agent when she clearly had no concept of appropriate behaviour. 

“Aw, c’mon, Fitz,” she heard Daisy tease, “let the kiddos have some fun.”

“This is _not_  fun! This is madness.” 

No truer words had ever been spoken, Jemma thought. Being a parent was already hard enough. Why did Daisy have to come and make it harder? 

“No, Daisy. Do _not_  use those in here!”

Jemma’s heart sunk to the pit of her stomach, not needing to turn around to know _exactly_  what Fitz meant by ‘those’. She held her breath. If Daisy were to start using her powers, she was sure she would lose it. She silently willed the cashier to go faster, cringing when she heard Peggy shriek,

“YES, DAISY, SHAKE THE TROLLEY!” 

Fortunately for her, the cashier sensed her anxious state because she sped up a little bit, finishing up ten seconds later. She offered Jemma smile as she told Jemma the final cost. 

Jemma handed over the cash, took her bags and hurried out of the supermarket. She parked herself on a nearby and sent Fitz a text to let him know she was done. 

Much to her relief, forty seconds later, Fitz, Daisy, Peggy and James emerged, _without_  a trolley, thank heavens. She glared at a still laughing Daisy and then exchanged a glance with Fitz as he grabbed half the bags from her. 

Silently, they walked out of the shopping centre, the three loud children falling into step behind them. They did their best to ignore the looks they _knew_  they were getting as they headed to the car. When they got to the car, they put the bags in the car, helped the kids in (yes, including Daisy; if she was going to behave like a child, she was getting treated like one) and then proceeded to climb in themselves. Jemma shut her door a bit harder than necessary when Bucky piped up from the backseat.

“That was fun, mummy. Can we bring Daisy with us again next time?”


	2. Churros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is exactly what you think it is. Except that there's no pool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alya is 9, Peggy is 8 and Bucky is 6

“Just makes sure they’re home-”

“By four thirty, yes, I know,” Daisy cut Jemma off with a smile. “Don’t worry, you’ll get them back before then.”

“They had better be. We have a-”

“Very strict schedule that _cannot_ be compromised,” Daisy recited in an overdramatic tone. “I know. But, Jems, really, don’t worry. They’re already pestering me to get our little outing done so we can stick to the schedule.”

As if on cue, Peggy and Bucky bounded up to her, Alya in tow.

“Daisy, come on, we have to eat now if we wanna get everything done and get home in time!”

Daisy grinned to herself, “Hear that, Jemma? They’ll keep me in check.”

“Okay. Thank you for doing this, Daisy. I’ll see you and them in a little while. Bye.”

“See ya.”

Daisy hung up and turned her attention back to the children. Alya was crouched down next to Bucky, both drawing in the dirt. Peggy had sat herself next to Daisy, waiting patiently for Daisy to finish her phone call.

“So, what do we want to eat?”

“CHURROS!” Alya shouted, jumping up. “It’s been ages, ma! Can we? Please?”

_I’ve raised the child well. My young padawan is well on her way to becoming a great Churro Knight._

“Well, that all depends on your report card,” Daisy decided, holding out her hand. Alya immediately dropped her bag and pulled out the card. Daisy smiled as she saw all the very good grades. Alya’s lowest was a B+. She nodded.

“Churros it is,” Daisy declared, standing up. Alya let out a whoop and zipped up her bag again. Bucky and Peggy stood up too.

“What are churros?” Peggy asked, furrowing her brow. Daisy’s eyebrows shot up.

“Your mother never feed you churros before?” The Fitzsimmons children shook her head.

_Such betrayal! How could she?? We agreed to teach the children about the wonders of churros…_

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” Daisy led the way, the children following her like little ducklings. The place that sold churros wasn’t too far away, and Daisy had to grab Alya to stop her running straight across the road into oncoming traffic in an attempt to get to the churros.

The extra minute waiting for the traffic lights to signal their turn to walk was worth the wait; it always was. The churros shop smelled _heavenly_ , and Bucky was immediately swept up in the delicious smell.

“Mmmm,” he murmured happily. “I wanna eat it.”

“And you shall!” Alya declared, her march to the counter stopped short by Peggy’s cautious voice.

“This smells an awful lot like sugar. Mum wouldn’t be too happy about us eating sugar…”

“What your mother doesn’t know, won’t hurt her,” Daisy coaxed. Well, that statement was only _mostly_ true. There were some things that would cause a great deal of harm if ignorance was observed. But churros were not one of those things.

Peggy looked hesitant, but agreed to it anyway. Alya grinned.

“You won’t regret this, Peggy. I promise.”

_Well, that might be a little bit of a lie. Depending on whether or not Jemma finds out._

Daisy caught Alya’s gaze, and instantly knew that her daughter was thinking the exact same thing. She raised her eyebrows again as she stepped forward to order.

“Damn I have a gutsy daughter,” she muttered to herself with a smile before looking back up to order. She honestly felt kind of proud of Alya; not many kids would risk that lie. Especially with the Fitzsimmons children who held the word ‘promise’ as one would a precious diamond.

Soon, they were all sitting around with their churros. Alya took the first bite, followed by Bucky, and then a delicate bite from Peggy. Bucky instantly moaned in delight, throwing away his British roots for the time being and chowing down his churros. Alya was doing the same.

Peggy, however, raised her eyebrows and smiled a little bit, evidently pleasantly surprised. Daisy munched on hers and watched the Fitzsimmons children carefully; this was a reaction that she was _not_ going to miss.

“Mmm, these are tasty,” Peggy decided, fully immersing herself in her churro. Daisy grinned victoriously.

_Churros and Daisy: 1, Jemma and Healthy Stuff: 0_

Forty minutes later, they were back at the Fitzsimmons’ place. Peggy was a touch worried, having inherited her mother’s poor lying skills.

“Hey, Peggy, it’s okay,” Bucky assured her, being better at lying. “Let Alya and me handle it. You just nod or shake your head to back us up. We’ll be fine. And if all else fails, just talk about school, and just don’t mention _anything_ about the time we were out.”

With that, they entered the house, immediately greeted by Jemma at the counter beginning to prepare dinner.

“Hey! How was school? Did you have a nice time with Daisy and Alya?”

“Yeah,” the two replied in unison.

“Thanks for doing that, Daisy,” Jemma said with a grateful glance. Daisy nodded.

“What’re friends for?” she turned her attention, “you two be good for your mum.”

“We will,” they said in unison, waving her goodbye as she and Alya left. They then hung their bags up and sat at the bench to debrief their mother about their day before they went to do their homework. They simultaneously placed their report cards on the bench.

Jemma skimmed them and smiled, “Well done! Did you have fun with Daisy and Alya?”

“Yes,” they answered.

“We went to the park!” Peggy told her excitedly. “I went on the swings and the slide and the really fast spinny thing!”

“That sounds like fun!” Jemma agreed. “Your poor father can never handle those things. He always ends up getting ill, the poor dear.”

Bucky giggled, “And I went on the slide, swings, seesaw and sandpit. I built my own little SHIELD base.”

“Clever boy,” Jemma congratulated. “What’d you have for your afternoon snack?”

“Daisy and Alya took us to get breadsticks,” Bucky answered before Peggy could. Peggy nodded.

“They were really tasty,” Peggy said, quietly biting her tongue before she said more. Jemma noticed it; her daughter hadn’t quite mastered the art of tongue biting. Still, she strung them along.

“What place did you go to?” She didn’t miss the way Peggy’s eyes dilated before she dropped her gaze.

“We went to the farmer’s market,” Bucky answered easily. He attempted to snitch a piece of carrot, but his hand was swatted away by his mother. He recoiled somewhat abashedly.

Jemma tried not to narrow her eyes. Her instinct told her that her children were lying to her, but about what exactly? Was it about what they ate, or was it about the place they went to? Or was it both? Only one way to find out, she decided.

“Did you two eat sugar?”

“Yes.” Bucky’s answer caused Peggy to tense up momentarily, but Jemma was fast enough to catch it, despite her shock.

“Excuse me?” Bucky gave his mother an unimpressed look.

“Bread has sugar, mum. Or have you forgotten the basics to making food?”

_Walked right into that one_ , Jemma thought with a slight smile, thinking back to the times where she’d pulled similar stunts. When she opened her eyes, Bucky and Peggy were moving off the chairs. She glanced up at the clock and saw that it was time for them to do their homework.

_Small mercies_.

After her children were fully engaged in their homework and dinner was cooking in the oven, Jemma slipped away to call Daisy. It took four rings for Daisy to answer.

“Hey, Jemma. Miss me already?” She could hear the teasing edge in Daisy’s voice, but it did nothing to ease her annoyance with the woman.

“Hey, Daisy, you didn’t by chance, feed my children sugar this afternoon, did you?” The point-blank question was rewarded with a pause, giving Jemma all the answers she needed, in her opinion.

“What makes you think that?” Daisy asked, and Jemma couldn’t help but smile a little.

_Sidestepping the question. Smart. But guess who else used to work for SHIELD?_

“I’ve been given no evidence that they didn’t,” she shot back. She heard Daisy chuckle on the other end of the line.

“Touché.”

“So, are you going to fess up or do I have to continue interrogating both you and the children?”

“Oof. That’s harsh Jemma. Interrogating your own _children_.”

“Daisy,” Jemma warned. On the other end, Jemma heard Daisy sigh in defeat.

“How’d you figure it out so quick? I mean, Bucky’s a decent liar.”

“Peggy’s his downfall.”

Daisy didn’t answer, but Jemma could imagine her rolling her tongue around in her mouth, and perhaps looking and feeling a little bit guilty. Jemma sighed before she continued on, feeling disappointed.

“Daisy, you know I don’t approve of them eating refined sugar.”

“Just as I don’t approve of children being deprived of churros.” Daisy’s tone was snappish, but it wasn’t the one she used when she was angry at others. It was the one she used when she was angry or disappointed in herself. Jemma sighed again.

“Daisy, I’m not mad at you because you fed them sugar. Well, I am, kind of. But not that angry. I’m more disappointed about the fact that you tried to hide it from me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Her tone was sincere and Jemma found herself instantly forgiving her friend. She let her lips twitch upwards.

“But I’m probably most disappointed about the fact that you didn’t invite me.” On the other end, she heard a soft chuckle from Daisy.

“Really? Because I thought you were still traumatised after the last time we went to get churros.”

Jemma’s small smile grew bigger. She’d walked right into that one (even if it may have been purposeful).

“Oh, don’t you bring that into this,” she snapped in a teasing tone. She could see Daisy’s bright smile in her mind.

“Perhaps I should bring a pool instead…” Jemma bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

“Goodbye, Daisy. Thanks again for taking care of the kids. But never go to get churros without me again.”


	3. Mackenzie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the story of how Bucky made a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is six and seven months, and Mackenzie is six and two months.

Bucky Fitzsimmons sat quietly on the mat, twisting nervously. He’d been brought in halfway through playtime after breaking down into tears. Mss Loughery had comforted him, and then left him on the mat. Miss Tomlin was up the back, getting the lesson ready, but he didn’t pay any mind to her. He was perfectly content sitting by himself.

He was nervous because the bell had rung and now the other kids were starting to come into the classroom. Almost all of them were talking and it was quite noisy. He didn’t want to cover his ears again, otherwise the other kids would make fun of him. So he tried to block out the noise by keeping is head down. counting the red squares printed on the mat, though he already knew the exact number.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by someone sitting down next to him. He let out a long exhale, preparing to be either ignored or mocked. So he was quite surprised when a soft, feminine voice spoke.

“Hi. I’m Mackenzie.”

He turned and looked at the girl next to him. She was short with pale skin, freckles, blue eyes and red hair, tied up into two uneven ponytails. Bucky knew his mum would never tie it up like that; she’d make sure they were even. Her uniform looked a bit mussed up, as if she’d been running around at playtime. 

She smiled and Bucky saw that her front right tooth was missing. He wondered when it fell out. He glanced down at her nails, and saw that they were dirty. She must have been playing in the dirt at playtime, too. 

“I’m Bucky,” he answered softly, not looking up. “What part of Scotland are you from?”

“The South,” she said brightly. “I come from Earlston. What about you?”

“I’ve lived here my entire life.”

“That’s cool. It’s nice to meet you, Bucky.”

Bucky looked up and smiled shyly. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Mackenzie.”

“You know my friends call me Kenzie or Kenz. Most of my guy friends call me Mack. Or Ken,” she screwed up her nose, “but I don’t really like that one.”

“Does that make us friends?” Bucky asked. Mackenzie nodded. 

Bucky smiled, then blurted, “I have an uncle named Mack.”

“Really?” Mackenzie perked up. “What’s he like?”

“He’s a really big man, but he’s really nice. My aunt, Daisy, describes him as a giant teddy bear.”

Mackenzie giggled. “That’s funny. I wanna meet him.”

Bucky nodded. “You could come over to my house to play sometime if you want.” 

“That sounds fun!” Mackenzie agreed, shifting around to face him better. She tilted her head and opened her mouth to say something else, but their teacher cut them off. Miss Tomlin was her name. Bucky didn’t like her. She always sounded out of breath and seemed awfully rushed a lot of the time. 

But still, he sat and listened to her as she gave out instructions, just like his mum had taught him to do. Once she was finished speaking, Mackenzie turned back to him and again tilted her head, picking up their conversation where they’d left off. 

“Are you shy, Bucky?”

He nodded, looking down again. “Most of the kids don’t like me, so I’m not really good at making friends.”

“Why not?” Mackenzie demanded, putting her hand on his knee. He tensed, surprised by the physical contact. He gently pushed her hand off.

“I’m autistic,” he said softly. “Most of the kids don’t like that. They think I’m weird.”

He looked up to gauge her reaction. Instead of seeing a disgusted look like he’d expected, she just looked curious.

“What’s...autistic mean?” she asked, trying the word out on her tongue.

“It means my brain is different from yours,” he explained, tapping first his head, then hers.

“How?” She leaned forward to hear him better in amongst the other kids chatting.

“It’s like…well, you know how other kids like to have loud music and flashy lights to dance along to?” She nodded. “I don’t like that. It hurts my eyes and my ears and my head and I have to put my hands over my ears and get down low on the floor to hide my eyes and make it stop. My dad told me that it’s like a glass of water. Here.”

He took her hand and pulled her up, leading her over to the table with the cups of water. He selected two of them - one red and one green and placed them side by side. He cast a glance at the teacher, trying to break up a fight that had broken out amongst the boys, then back down at the cups.

“So, we pretend like your brain is the green cup and yours is the red. Right now, our brains are at an okay level. Nothing good is happening, but nothing bad either. But let’s pretend that there’s loud music and flashy lights.”

He grabbed another cup (an orange one) and began pouring into the green cup. “The loud music and flashy lights fill your brain to a nice level. You feel nice. But,” Bucky grabbed another cup after the orange one ran out as he poured into his cup, “the loud music and flashy lights fill my brain too much.”

He waited until the water overflowed before continuing. “It’s too much for my brain and so I start hurting.”

Mackenzie slowly nodded in understanding, and then the teacher’s gentle and yet frustrated voice caught their attention.

“Bucky! Can’t you wait until it’s time for a water break!” she took the cup out of Bucky’s hand. He immediately dropped his head. “And, oh! You’ve made a mess! What were you doing?”

She sounded impatient, and it made Bucky upset. He chomped down on his bottom lip to keep from crying.

“Don’t go blaming him, Miss Tomlin!” Mackenzie said, stepping in front of them. “I asked him a question and he was answering me. I was learning, just like you want us to.”

“Well, couldn’t he have done so without making a mess?” she sighs, and Bucky sees Mackenzie’s shadow, shaking her head.

“Not unless you have another way of teaching me about autistic.” 

“Autism,” Bucky corrects quietly from behind her.

“Sorry. Autism.” 

There’s a pause before Miss Tomlin says softly and kindly, “Clean up this mess, please.”

“Right away, Miss,” Mackenzie answers for them, and then touches his shoulder a second later, causing him to look up. She has a big smile on her face as she takes his hand and leads him over to where the paper towels are. 

“Thanks for teaching me, Bucky.”

Bucky smiled. He liked his new friend. He decided that he was going to keep her for as long as he could.


	4. Mackenzie (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When they first met at six (and a bit) years old, Bucky told Mackenzie something about himself. Now, three (and a bit) years later, it's Mackenzie's turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrriten for [buckysbears (DrZebra)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrZebral)
> 
> In this one, Bucky is ten and two months, and Mackenzie is nine and nine months.

Something’s not quite right. 

Bucky’s not sure exactly what it is, but something’s just Not Right.

He glances again at Mackenzie, staring down at the water, not speaking. She’s twisting her fingers, with her arms pressed in close to her body, and her shoulders are slightly hunched in a slouch.

Her body language is all wrong.

Usually, Mackenzie is chatting the hind leg off a donkey, her arms flailing around passionately as she gestures. Her back is usually straight, her her chin held high and a smile gracing her face. 

Bucky misses that Mackenzie right now. But he knows not to be upset by it. He knows that sometimes people feel sad, or scared, or lonely, or so many other Unhappy Emotions, and that it’s okay to feel those things. 

So he’s not upset at Mackenzie for feeling unhappy. 

But he does want to help her feel better. He knows better than most that feeling unhappy was a very icky thing to feel. 

So, he does what his mum and dad do when he feels unhappy. He asks her about how she’s feeling.

“Are you feeling okay, Kenzi?” he asks softly, kicking his legs back and forth gently in the water. Beside him, Mackenzie takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. Bucky’s heart speeds up and he begins to feel uneasy. Something is definitely Not Right and it’s scaring him a bit.

“I need to tell you something,” Mackenzie says, the words tumbling from her lips in a hurry. There’s a sick feeling in Bucky’s stomach, his mind drawing the worst conclusion: that she didn’t want to be his friend anymore. 

He draws this conclusion because this is what  _ always  _ happens. He gets a new friend, and it’s all very nice for a while, and then they get tired of him and they tell him that they don’t want to be friends with him. Usually, this happens after they find out that he’s autistic.

But with Mackenzie, it’s different. She found out as soon as she became his friend, and she’s loved him for it the whole three and a bit years they’ve been friends. She’s never gotten upset when he acts weird, or shouted at him, or made him do things that made him uncomfortable. 

But what if now, after all this time, she’s finally decided that she can’t do it anymore, and wants him to go away?

It makes Bucky feel sick to his stomach. But then he remembers that he shouldn’t jump to conclusions, as his mum always says, because he doesn’t know what the person is thinking; he doesn’t have all the information yet. 

So, he forces his stomach to calm down and listens.

“What is it?”

Mackenzie takes a few more deep breaths, a huff of laughter escaping her, and she looks up and ahead, across the lake. A panic reaction, Bucky knows. It must be really scary for her to tell him whatever she wants to tell him to have a panic reaction.

“I’m sorry, this is just really hard for me to say,” she apologies, looking down again.

Bucky feels a huge wave of empathy flow over him for her, and he has to resist the urge to reach out and hug her. He knows well enough that he shouldn’t hug her right now. He knows she would want to tell him before he hugs her. So, he waits. 

Mackenzie draws in another large breath and looks up again as she lets it out, and speaks, in a tone so soft that it’s barely above a whisper, but Bucky hears it.

“I’m non binary, Bucky.”

Bucky tilts his head and furrows his brow. He’s never heard that term before. Yes, he’s heard the word ‘non’, which is a prefix expressing absence, and ‘binary’, which has to do with computers; he’s heard Aunty Daisy use the word ‘binary’ before. 

But Mackenzie’s not a computer, which he already knows. 

“But I already know you’re not a computer,” he states, so confused that he can’t help but speak his thoughts.

To his surprise, Mackenzie throws back her head and laughs. It’s her loud, carefree, that-was-the-funniest-thing-i’ve-ever-heard laugh. It’s the one where her whole body shakes and tears come out of her eyes because she’s laughing so hard. 

This only confuses Bucky more, because he can’t understand why Mackenzie finds his truth so funny. It’s only a short minute or two before Mackenzie gains control of her giggles and turns to face him, her face shining. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming,” she giggles, before swallowing her laughter. “Binary isn’t just something used in computers, it’s an adjective that means ‘two things’, or ‘two parts’. Like pairs. Like, black and white; salt and pepper; girl and boy.”

She stops, allowing Bucky a bit of time to process what she’s said. It’s not long before he nods slowly in understanding.

“So, you’re saying that you don’t belong in a pair?” Mackenzie nods, and Bucky squints in deep thought, before focusing on her again. “But there are lots of pairs. Which pair do you mean that you don’t belong to?”

“Girl and boy,” she answers without hesitation. “I’m not a girl, and I’m not a boy.”

Bucky again nods slowly in understanding. “So...you’re just a person, then.”

“Yes!” Mackenzie says joyfully , and Bucky can hear the sigh of relief in her voice. The two sit back and after a minute, Bucky speaks up again.

“Questions?”

“Fire away.”

“When did you become non binary?” 

“You don’t ‘become’ non binary,” Mackenzie explains patiently. “It’s always there, you just don’t find it until a bit later. Kind of like...oh I know! A bit like your autism. You’ve always been autistic, you just didn’t know about it until you were a bit older.”

Bucky nods again, his mouth hanging open slightly. 

“That makes sense,” he muses, and then goes on to his next question. “So, when did you find out?”

“A few months ago,” Mackenzie says happily. “I was watching this TV show and one of the characters told their friends that they were non binary and told them what it meant and as they taught the other characters I thought that I felt the same way.”

“Interesting,” Bucky murmurs, locking that particular information away for later pondering. Then, he takes his own deep breath and asks the question he dreads the answer to. “Does this mean things are going to change?”

Mackenzie knows how much he hates change, and sudden change even more. It’s probably for this reason that she averts her eyes and shrugs.

“I think so,” she admits quietly. “I just don’t know how, yet.”

Well, that answer wasn’t as bad as it could have been. So, Bucky smiles a bit and tries to make a joke to lighten the mood.

“Let me know when you do? At the soonest possible date?”

Mackenzie understands his joke and she laughs again.

“Soonest possible date,” she agrees. Then, she leans in for a hug, which Bucky allows for her. After the hug, they don’t separate, but instead Mackenzie shifts to rest her head against his shoulder, and Bucky keeps an arm draped around her.

“Thanks, Bucky,” she whispers after a long while. Bucky doesn’t answer. He knows he doesn’t have to. He just gives her a little squeeze with his arm, and together, they watch the sun start to droop low over the lake, illuminating the water in the same way their hearts felt. 

It’s a Happy Feeling, and Bucky doesn’t ever want it to go away.


End file.
